Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jul 5
Wealthy U.S. Families Pay $75,000 for AI Schools as Tutors Replace Traditional Classrooms
Updated
Updated · The Verge · Jul 5

Wealthy U.S. Families Pay $75,000 for AI Schools as Tutors Replace Traditional Classrooms

2 articles · Updated · The Verge · Jul 5

Summary

  • $75,000-a-year AI kindergarten programs are drawing wealthy U.S. families who want children taught by AI tutors and project-based workshops instead of conventional schools.
  • Alpha School and Forge Prep are selling the model as a fix for what some parents call a broken education system, with Silicon Valley families among the earliest adopters.
  • Those programs remain largely unproven: companies cited in the report do not share performance metrics, leaving little evidence that AI-guided schooling improves outcomes.
  • The shift also raises curriculum concerns because Alpha co-founder MacKenzie Price has said "hot-button social issues" will stay out of class, even as some campuses extend through high school.

Insights

As the rich buy AI tutors, are they creating geniuses or crippling their children's ability to think critically?
With elite AI schools omitting 'hot-button issues,' what crucial lessons will the next generation of leaders miss?